INDIANAPOLIS — Among the 60 players the Jaguars will interview at this week’s NFL Scouting Combine are the draft’s consensus top three quarterbacks: Central Florida’s Blake Bortles, Louisville’s Teddy Bridgewater and Texas A&M’s Johnny Manziel.

The 15-minute sessions will be the Jaguars’ first face-to-face interaction with each player.

“We’ve been admiring them from afar,” general manager Dave Caldwell said Thursday at Lucas Oil Stadium.

The Jaguars will also meet with nine other quarterbacks who were not on the two Senior Bowl rosters last month, including LSU’s Zach Mettenberger and Alabama’s A.J. McCarron.

“It’s a solid group, probably a little better than 2011 and there’s more quantity than last year’s draft,” Caldwell said.

Last year, only one quarterback (Buffalo’s E.J. Manuel) was picked in the first round.

This year, Bortles (Houston at No. 1), Bridgewater (Jaguars at No. 3) and Manziel (Cleveland at No. 4) could go in the first hour.

Overall, Caldwell echoed his colleagues’ analysis of the draft — deeper than in recent years, which means an ideal situation for the Jaguars would be trading down but still getting an impact player. The Jaguars have 10 picks.

But since trades involving any of the top three picks are rare (only five deals since 2000), the Jaguars will be prepared if they stay put on the night of May 8.

The Combine is just a layer of the process.

The Jaguars will likely attend the Pro Day workouts for Bortles, Bridgewater and Manziel and then bring them to Jacksonville for a visit to EverBank Field.

Only then will opinions be crystallized and a decision made.

Since looking for “tells” from GMs and coaches is standard this time of year, Caldwell’s response when asked which of the trio is the most ready to play right away was interesting.

“Rookie quarterbacks, as a whole, generally aren’t NFL-ready,” he said. “You get the exceptions like Andrew Luck and Matt Ryan and Peyton Manning, but those are guys who spent 4-5 years at a university playing in a pro-style offense. It’s not common for a rookie to come in and start.”

Does that mean the Jaguars are prepared to address another need in the first round and then pick a quarterback in the second round (or later)?

Possibly, which means Chad Henne could be the Week 1 starter. Caldwell will meet with Henne’s representation this week.

“It should go fairly well,” he said of the negotiations.

Asked if he anticipates Henne hitting the open market, Caldwell told the Times-Union: “I don’t think so. … We like him, we like his leadership, we like him having another year in the offense. If we surround him with better players, we think he can keep us afloat.”

Translation: Henne can play until (fill in the blank rookie) is ready to go.

But even if Henne re-signs, the Jaguars are projected to take one of the quarterbacks. Caldwell talked briefly about each.

On what impresses him about Manziel: “Just his ability to win and compete and move the team is really intriguing.”

On Bridgewater’s career: “A talented player. He‘s been a winner there and they did a nice job with him. He did a good job leading that team.”

On Bortles, who will throw on Sunday: “It shows a level of competitiveness and somebody that wants to go out and show the world.”

And on South Carolina defensive end Jadeveon Clowney: “Very talented. Extremely talented.”

Caldwell nixed any thought that Manziel’s ability to generate fan interest will move him up the Jaguars’ draft board.

“When [owner] Shad [Khan] hired [coach] Gus [Bradley] and I, he said, ‘It’s not your job to sell tickets,’ ” Caldwell said. “We’ll put the best 53 players on the roster. If we do that and we win, the marketability and ticket sales will come.”